Controlling an application dependency identifier

ABSTRACT

An application identifier control system controls an application dependency identification system to access request logs in one or more front end server systems that are providing access to a hosted application and identify dependencies. The dependencies are identified by identifying successful data access requests to an endpoint to be migrated, that originate from a separate, requesting application. A surfacing control system controls surfacing logic to surface the dependencies.

BACKGROUND

Computing systems are currently in wide use. Some such computing systemshost applications that are accessible by separate computing systems orapplications.

For instance, some computing systems host applications and provideaccess to the hosted applications through a front end computing system.Separate applications can make data access requests to the hostedapplication, through the front end computing system.

It is not uncommon for persons maintaining the hosted application tomigrate portions, or all, of the hosted application to a differentlocation. By way of example, it may be that the hosted application ishosted in an on-premise computing system. However, it may be thatportions or all of the hosted application are to be migrated to acloud-based server environment.

When this happens, the separate, requesting applications, that areseparate from the hosted environment hosting the application, maycontinue to make data access requests to the particular endpoint of thehosted application, at its old location (at the location before it wasmigrated). These separate, requesting applications are often client sideapplications that are using data generated or maintained by the hostedapplication. Therefore, when they make a data access request to anendpoint at its old location, this can cause the client side applicationto malfunction. Not only does this inhibit the client side applicationfrom working properly, but it can also be strongly detrimental to theuser experience of a user who is using the client side application.

The discussion above is merely provided for general backgroundinformation and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining thescope of the claimed subject matter.

SUMMARY

An application identifier control system controls an applicationdependency identification system to access request logs in one or morefront end server systems that are providing access to a hostedapplication and identify dependencies. The dependencies are identifiedby identifying successful data access requests to an endpoint to bemigrated, that originate from a separate, requesting application. Asurfacing control system controls surfacing logic to surface thedependencies.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementationsthat solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one example of a computing systemarchitecture.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one example of an application accessinglog.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of the operation of anapplication identifier control system.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of one example of application dependencyresults.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of the operation of anapplication dependency identification system.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the architecture illustrated in FIG.1, deployed in a cloud computing architecture.

FIGS. 7-9 show examples of mobile devices that can be used in thearchitectures illustrated in the previous figures.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of one example of a computing environmentthat can be used in the architectures shown in the previous figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one example of a computing systemarchitecture 100. Architecture 100 illustratively includes computingsystem 102, target computing system 104, one or more separate,requesting applications 106-108 that have access to target computingsystem 104 either directly, or over network 110. FIG. 1 also shows that,in one example, computing system 102 can generate user interfaces 112with user input mechanisms 114 for interaction by user 116. User 116 canbe an administrative user who may be assisting in the migration of partor all of target computing system 104 to a new location. User 116 canillustratively interact with user input mechanisms 114 in order tocontrol and manipulate computing system 102.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the separate, requesting applications106 and 108 can illustratively make data access requests for data intarget computing system 102. Therefore, when target computing system 102is being migrated (in whole or in part) to a different serverenvironment (e.g., from an on-premise system to a cloud-based system orotherwise), then the separate, requesting applications 106-108 may stillcontinue to make data access requests to the endpoint in targetcomputing system 104 at its old location (e.g., to the location prior toits migration). This can cause the separate, requesting applications106-108 to malfunction.

Therefore, in accordance with one example, computing system 102automatically identifies dependencies of separate, requestingapplications 106-108 to determine whether they are dependent on aportion of the application hosted by target computing system 104 that isgoing to be moved. If so, it illustratively surfaces the applicationdependencies it has identified for user 116, or for other users, so thatthe dependencies can be addressed before the application hosted bytarget computing system 104 is migrated. Before describing the overalloperation of architecture 100 in more detail, a brief description ofsome of the items in architecture 100, and their operation, will firstbe provided.

Target computing system 104 illustratively includes one or more frontend server systems 118-120. Each front end server system 118-120illustratively includes server logic 122-124, an application accessinglog 126-128, and they can include a wide variety of other items 130-132.Target computing system 104 also illustratively includes back end logic136 and data store 138, which can store server configuration information140, a target application and application data 142, and otherinformation 144. Target computing system 104, itself, can include a widevariety of other items 146 as well.

In operation, separate, requesting applications 106-108 make data accessrequests through one or more of the front end server systems 118-120.For purposes of the present example, it will be assumed that separate,requesting application 106 is making a data access request through frontend server system 118. Server logic 122 handles the interaction with theseparate, requesting application 106 when it makes a data accessrequest. Server logic 122 then stores request data identifying therequest in application accessing log 126. Server logic 122 theninteracts with back end logic 136 which, itself, accesses the targetapplication and application data 142 based upon the data access requestthat was received from separate, requesting application 136. The dataaccess request may take a wide variety of different forms, such as aread request, a delete or modify request, a data record create request,it can be an update request, or a variety of other requests.

Back end logic 136 may manipulate the application or data 142 based onthe request. It can also return results through server logic 122 offront end server system 118, to separate, requesting application 106.

Computing system 102 can include one or more processors or servers 150,data store 152, application identifier control system 154, applicationdependency identification system 156, result surfacing control system158, user interface logic 160, and it can include other items 162.Application identifier control system 154, itself, can include serverlocation logic 164, remote access logic 166, result transmission logic168, result aggregation logic 170, and it can include other items 172.Application dependency identification system 156, itself, can includeURI pattern matching logic 174, request result identifying logic 176,requesting client filtering logic 178, and it can include other items180.

Server location logic 164 identifies a server or server farmcorresponding to each of the front end server systems 118-120 that areused to host the target application and application data 142 on targetcomputing system 104. Remote access logic 166 obtains remote access tothe application accessing logs 126-128 on the identified front endserver systems 118-120. It also controls application dependencyidentification system 156 to identify application dependencies of theseparate, requesting applications 106-108, by remotely parsing each ofthe application accessing logs 126-128. Result transmission logic 168obtains the results of that parsing from each front end server system118-120, and result aggregation logic 170 aggregates those separateresults into a single result set that identifies the applicationdependencies on the target application and application data 142 hostedin target computing system 104. Result surfacing control system 158illustratively generates control signals to control user interface logic160 to surface the dependencies identified.

In order to parse the application accessing logs 126-128, applicationdependency identification system 156 illustratively controls URI patternmatching logic 174 to filter the application accessing log 126 toidentify log entries where a data access request was made to aparticular endpoint in target computing system 104 that is to be moved.Request result identifying logic 176 filters the log data to identifythose data access requests which were successful, and requesting clientfiltering logic 178 filters the log data to identify requests that arecoming from separate, requesting applications 106-108, as opposed toapplications that may be local to the server environment in targetcomputing system 104. Based upon the control of the various filteringand matching logic in application dependency identification system 156,application dependencies are identified for the separate, requestingapplications 106-108 in each front end server system 118-120. Then, asbriefly described above, application identifier control system 154controls its logic to obtain those results, aggregate them and combinethem into a single dependency result set.

FIG. 2 shows one example of information that can be stored in anapplication accessing log (for purposes of the present discussion, itwill be assumed that the log is application accessing log 126). FIG. 2shows that log 126 illustratively includes a plurality of entries190-192. The entries may be similar or different. For the purposes ofthe present description, it will be assumed that they are similar sothat only entry 190 will be described in more detail. Suffice it to saythat each entry 190-192 represents a data access request from anapplication, including requests from separate, requesting applications106-108.

Entry 190 illustratively includes a data access request identifier 194that identifies the particular data access request corresponding toentry 190. Requestor identifier 196 identifies the particular requestor(e.g., the separate, requesting application 106 that made the request).Actuated link identifier 198 identifies a link that was actuated to makethe request. For instance, the hosted application 142 may expose linksthat can be actuated in order to make a data access request. URLrequested identifier 200 identifies the particular end point (or URL)from which data was requested. The data requested identifier 202identifies the particular data record or set of records that wererequested, and user agent identifier 204 identifies any user agent, suchas whether the request came from a browser or the particular type ofapplication the request came from, etc. Entry 190 can include a widevariety of other information 206 as well.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of the operation ofapplication identifier control system 154 in obtaining access toapplication accessing log 126, and running application dependencyidentification system 156 remotely to parse log 126 to identifyapplication dependencies. Application identifier control system 154first determines that the log data is to be mined and dependencies areto be identified. This is indicated by block 210 in the flow diagram ofFIG. 3. This can be done intermittently, or periodically, as indicatedby block 212. It may be prompted based on other criteria as well, suchas by receiving an indication that one or more endpoints in targetcomputing system 104 are to be moved or migrated to a differentlocation. This is indicated by block 214. It can be determined in otherways as well, and this is indicated by block 216.

Server location logic 164 then identifies the particular front endserver systems 118-120 that service the endpoint that is to be migrated,and gains remote access (or at least partial remote control) of theidentified front end server systems 118-120. Accessing the front endserver systems for the target computing system is indicated by block218. Identifying the specific server farm running the application on thetarget computing system and gaining remote access to each server isindicated by blocks 220 and 222 in the flow diagram of FIG. 3. Theaccess can be gained in other ways as well, and this is indicated byblock 224.

Remote access logic 166 then runs the application dependencyidentification system 156 on the application accessing log data for eachidentified server to identify application dependency results thatindicate which separate, requesting applications 106-108 are dependenton the particular end point in target computing system 104 that is to bemoved or migrated. This is indicated by block 226 in the flow diagram ofFIG. 3. In doing so, it can use the various logic in system 156 to parsethe log data with various parsing and filter criteria in order toidentify the application dependencies. This is indicated by block 228.It can run the application dependency identification system 156 in otherways as well, and this is indicated by block 230. One example of how thedata is parsed by application dependency identification system 156 isdescribed in greater detail below with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5.

Result aggregation logic 170 then aggregates the dependency results fromeach identified server, at application identifier control system 154.This is indicated by block 232 in the flow diagram of FIG. 3. In doingso, it illustratively combines the results into a single set of results,by eliminating duplicate dependencies or other duplicate resultsgenerated during the parsing process. Manipulating the aggregateddependency results to obtain the single set of dependency results isindicated by block 234.

Result surfacing control system 158 then generates control signals tocontrol use interface logic 160 to surface the single set of dependencyresults for user 116, or for another system. This is indicated by block236. In doing so, it may surface the results with user actuatableelements that allow the user to perform actions on those results, suchas to automatically generate notifications or alerts, to automaticallydrill into the dependency information to see more detail, to initiatecommunications, to automatically generate a fix to fix the dependency sothat it will be dependent on the new location of the endpoint from whichit is requesting data, or a wide variety of other information. This isindicated by blocks 238, 240, 242, 244, and 246, respectively.

FIG. 4 shows one example of a user interface display 248 that can begenerated to surface the dependency results. In one example, userinterface display 248 illustratively includes a plurality of differententries 250-252, each of which displays a dependency result. In oneexample, each entry 250-252 is a comma delimited display that displaysinformation identifying the application dependency on the endpoint thatis to be moved. For instance, each entry can identify the server accountthrough which the data access request was made, the particular URLendpoint from which data was requested, the particular data records ordata entities that were requested, an identifier identifying theseparate, requesting application that made the request, the user agentstring, and it can include other information. In addition, each entrymay include one or more user actuatable actuators 254-256 that can beactuated by the user in order to perform the actions, such as thoseillustrated by blocks 238-246 in FIG. 3, above. It will be noted thatFIG. 4 is only one example and a wide variety of other user interfacedisplays or other mechanisms for generating or surfacing the applicationdependency results can be used as well.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of the operation ofapplication dependency identification system 156 in parsing applicationaccessing log 126 based on parsing and filter criteria, in order toidentify the application dependencies. It will be noted that, in oneexample, the operations shown in FIG. 5 can be performed remotely, ineach front end server system 118 by a processor or server in thosesystems, and by accessing the information in the application accessinglog 126, through the remote control processing.

It is assumed that the remote access logic 166 in application identifiercontrol system 184 has already gained remote access to a given front endserver system (e.g., front end server system 118) in the targetcomputing system 104. This is indicated by block 260 in the flow diagramof FIG. 5. Application dependency identification system 156 thenaccesses the application accessing log 126 for the given front endserver system 118. This is indicated by block 262. In one example,application accessing log 126 may be in a database that exposes a frontend search system that allows application dependency identificationsystem 156, when it is run remotely within front end server system 118,to access the data in application accessing log 126. Obtaining accesscan be performed in other ways as well.

System 156 first controls the request result identifying logic 176 tofilter the data access requests in log 126 based on whether the requestwas successful. This is indicated by block 264. In this filtering andparsing step, criteria are enforced to identify only those data accessrequests in application accessing log 126 that were successful, and tofilter out the remaining requests.

System 156 then controls the URI pattern matching logic 174 to filterdata access requests (or just the successful requests identified inblock 264) based on whether the request is requesting data from and endpoint in target computing system 104 that is to be moved or migrated.This is indicated by block 266. For instance, if the target computingsystem is to be a hybrid computing system where some of the endpointsare to be moved (e.g., to a cloud environment) but some are to bemaintained in their present location, then it may be that some of thedata access requests logged in application accessing log 126 are toendpoints that will not be moved. In that case, those data accessrequests can be parsed (or identified) and filtered out of the data thatwill be used in determining the application dependencies.

Requesting client filtering logic 178 then accesses server configurationinformation 140 in data store 138. This is indicated by block 268 in theflow diagram of FIG. 5. The server configuration data illustrativelyidentifies native applications that are native to target computingsystem 104 that may be requesting data from the front end server systemsas well. Where they are native applications, then even if an endpoint ismoved, the native applications will automatically be modified so thatthey request data from the new location. Thus, only the data applicationrequests in application accessing log 126 that come from separate,requesting applications 106-108 need be identified. System 156 thuscontrols the requesting client filtering logic 178 to filter data accessrequests in log 126 (or the subset of those requests that havepreviously been identified as successful requests that are directed toan endpoint that is to be moved) based upon whether the request is froma separate, requesting application, or whether it is from a nativeapplication in target computing system 104. This is indicated by block270 in the flow diagram of FIG. 5. In doing so, requesting clientfiltering logic 178 can identify a URL corresponding to the requestingapplication. This is indicated by block 272. It can then compare thatURL to the server configuration information 140, as indicated by block274. It can identify whether the requesting application is remote fromthe hosting environment of target computing system 104 (e.g., whether itis remote from the cloud in which target computing system 104 isdeployed, or otherwise). This is indicated by block 276. It can filterthe data access requests based on whether they come from a separate,requesting application in other ways as well, and this is indicated byblock 278.

Once the filter and parsing criteria described above with respect toblocks 264, 266, and 270 have been applied, then the remaining dataaccess requests which are mined from application accessing log 126 willbe data access requests that are successful, that are directed to theparticular endpoint in target computing system 104 that is to be moved,and that come from a separate, requesting application as opposed to anative application. Result transmission logic 166 in applicationidentifier control system 154 then forms those results into a dependencyresult for the given front end server system 118. This is indicated byblock 280 in the flow diagram of FIG. 5. Then, as described above withrespect to FIG. 3, the dependency results for each front end serversystem 118-120 are aggregated by result aggregation logic 170 andcombined into a single result set that can be surfaced and acted on byuser 116.

It can thus be seen that system 102 applies a particular set offiltering and parsing criteria to each application accessing log 126-128in a target computing system 104 to identify application dependencies ofseparate, requesting applications 106-108. These dependencies can besurfaced and used to correct the separate, requesting applications106-108, even before the endpoint is migrated or moved, so thatapplications 106-108 will not malfunction. This increases the accuracyand functioning capability of each of those applications, and itincreases the performance of the overall target computing system,because the requesting applications will not break after migration. Italso enhances the user experience in that the separate, requestingapplications, which are servicing various users, will not suffer anyperformance degradation or will not break, even after a migration of anendpoint from which data is requested.

It will be noted that the above discussion has described a variety ofdifferent systems, components and/or logic. It will be appreciated thatsuch systems, components and/or logic can be comprised of hardware items(such as processors and associated memory, or other processingcomponents, some of which are described below) that perform thefunctions associated with those systems, components and/or logic. Inaddition, the systems, components and/or logic can be comprised ofsoftware that is loaded into a memory and is subsequently executed by aprocessor or server, or other computing component, as described below.The systems, components and/or logic can also be comprised of differentcombinations of hardware, software, firmware, etc., some examples ofwhich are described below. These are only some examples of differentstructures that can be used to form the systems, components and/or logicdescribed above. Other structures can be used as well.

The present discussion has mentioned processors and servers. In oneembodiment, the processors and servers include computer processors withassociated memory and timing circuitry, not separately shown. They arefunctional parts of the systems or devices to which they belong and areactivated by, and facilitate the functionality of the other componentsor items in those systems.

Also, a number of user interface displays have been discussed. They cantake a wide variety of different forms and can have a wide variety ofdifferent user actuatable input mechanisms disposed thereon. Forinstance, the user actuatable input mechanisms can be text boxes, checkboxes, icons, links, drop-down menus, search boxes, etc. They can alsobe actuated in a wide variety of different ways. For instance, they canbe actuated using a point and click device (such as a track ball ormouse). They can be actuated using hardware buttons, switches, ajoystick or keyboard, thumb switches or thumb pads, etc. They can alsobe actuated using a virtual keyboard or other virtual actuators. Inaddition, where the screen on which they are displayed is a touchsensitive screen, they can be actuated using touch gestures. Also, wherethe device that displays them has speech recognition components, theycan be actuated using speech commands

A number of data stores have also been discussed. It will be noted theycan each be broken into multiple data stores. All can be local to thesystems accessing them, all can be remote, or some can be local whileothers are remote. All of these configurations are contemplated herein.

Also, the figures show a number of blocks with functionality ascribed toeach block. It will be noted that fewer blocks can be used so thefunctionality is performed by fewer components. Also, more blocks can beused with the functionality distributed among more components.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of architecture 100, shown in FIG. 1, exceptthat its elements are disposed in a cloud computing architecture 500.Cloud computing provides computation, software, data access, and storageservices that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical locationor configuration of the system that delivers the services. In variousembodiments, cloud computing delivers the services over a wide areanetwork, such as the internet, using appropriate protocols. Forinstance, cloud computing providers deliver applications over a widearea network and they can be accessed through a web browser or any othercomputing component. Software or components of architecture 100 as wellas the corresponding data, can be stored on servers at a remotelocation. The computing resources in a cloud computing environment canbe consolidated at a remote data center location or they can bedispersed. Cloud computing infrastructures can deliver services throughshared data centers, even though they appear as a single point of accessfor the user. Thus, the components and functions described herein can beprovided from a service provider at a remote location using a cloudcomputing architecture. Alternatively, they can be provided from aconventional server, or they can be installed on client devicesdirectly, or in other ways.

The description is intended to include both public cloud computing andprivate cloud computing. Cloud computing (both public and private)provides substantially seamless pooling of resources, as well as areduced need to manage and configure underlying hardware infrastructure.

A public cloud is managed by a vendor and typically supports multipleconsumers using the same infrastructure. Also, a public cloud, asopposed to a private cloud, can free up the end users from managing thehardware. A private cloud may be managed by the organization itself andthe infrastructure is typically not shared with other organizations. Theorganization still maintains the hardware to some extent, such asinstallations and repairs, etc.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, some items are similar to those shown inFIG. 1 and they are similarly numbered. FIG. 6 specifically shows thatcomputing system 100 can be located in cloud 502 (which can be public,private, or a combination where portions are public while others areprivate). Therefore, user 116 uses a user device 504 to access thosesystems through cloud 502.

FIG. 6 also depicts another example of a cloud architecture. FIG. 6shows that it is also contemplated that some elements of computingsystem 104 can be disposed in cloud 502 while others are not. By way ofexample, data store 152 can be disposed outside of cloud 502, andaccessed through cloud 502. In another example, application identifiercontrol system 154 is also outside of cloud 502. Regardless of wherethey are located, they can be accessed directly by device 504, through anetwork (either a wide area network or a local area network), they canbe hosted at a remote site by a service, or they can be provided as aservice through a cloud or accessed by a connection service that residesin the cloud. All of these architectures are contemplated herein.

It will also be noted that architecture 100, or portions of it, can bedisposed on a wide variety of different devices. Some of those devicesinclude servers, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers,or other mobile devices, such as palm top computers, cell phones, smartphones, multimedia players, personal digital assistants, etc.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of one illustrative example of ahandheld or mobile computing device that can be used as a user's orclient's hand held device 16, in which the present system (or parts ofit) can be deployed. FIGS. 8-9 are examples of handheld or mobiledevices.

FIG. 7 provides a general block diagram of the components of a clientdevice 16 that can run components of computer systems 102 and/or 104 orthat interacts with architecture 100, or both. In the device 16, acommunications link 13 is provided that allows the handheld device tocommunicate with other computing devices and under some embodimentsprovides a channel for receiving information automatically, such as byscanning. Examples of communications link 13 include an infrared port, aserial/USB port, a cable network port such as an Ethernet port, and awireless network port allowing communication though one or morecommunication protocols including General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),LTE, HSPA, HSPA+ and other 3G and 4G radio protocols, 1Xrtt, and ShortMessage Service, which are wireless services used to provide cellularaccess to a network, as well as Wi-Fi protocols, and Bluetooth protocol,which provide local wireless connections to networks.

In other examples, applications or systems are received on a removableSecure Digital (SD) card that is connected to a SD card interface 15. SDcard interface 15 and communication links 13 communicate with aprocessor 17 (which can also embody processors 150, 122 or 124, fromFIG. 1) along a bus 19 that is also connected to memory 21 andinput/output (I/O) components 23, as well as clock 25 and locationsystem 27.

I/O components 23, in one embodiment, are provided to facilitate inputand output operations. I/O components 23 for various embodiments of thedevice 16 can include input components such as buttons, touch sensors,multi-touch sensors, optical or video sensors, voice sensors, touchscreens, proximity sensors, microphones, tilt sensors, and gravityswitches and output components such as a display device, a speaker, andor a printer port. Other I/O components 23 can be used as well.

Clock 25 illustratively comprises a real time clock component thatoutputs a time and date. It can also, illustratively, provide timingfunctions for processor 17.

Location system 27 illustratively includes a component that outputs acurrent geographical location of device 16. This can include, forinstance, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a LORAN system, adead reckoning system, a cellular triangulation system, or otherpositioning system. It can also include, for example, mapping softwareor navigation software that generates desired maps, navigation routesand other geographic functions.

Memory 21 stores operating system 29, network settings 31, applications33, application configuration settings 35, data store 37, communicationdrivers 39, and communication configuration settings 41. Memory 21 caninclude all types of tangible volatile and non-volatilecomputer-readable memory devices. It can also include computer storagemedia (described below). Memory 21 stores computer readable instructionsthat, when executed by processor 17, cause the processor to performcomputer-implemented steps or functions according to the instructions.Application 154 or the items in data store 156, for example, can residein memory 21. Similarly, device 16 can have a client system 24 which canrun various business applications or embody parts or all of the systems102, 104. Processor 17 can be activated by other components tofacilitate their functionality as well.

Examples of the network settings 31 include things such as proxyinformation, Internet connection information, and mappings. Applicationconfiguration settings 35 include settings that tailor the applicationfor a specific enterprise or user. Communication configuration settings41 provide parameters for communicating with other computers and includeitems such as GPRS parameters, SMS parameters, connection user names andpasswords.

Applications 33 can be applications that have previously been stored onthe device 16 or applications that are installed during use, althoughthese can be part of operating system 29, or hosted external to device16, as well.

FIG. 8 shows one embodiment in which device 16 is a tablet computer 600.In FIG. 8, computer 600 is shown with user interface display screen 602.Screen 602 can be a touch screen (so touch gestures from a user's fingercan be used to interact with the application) or a pen-enabled interfacethat receives inputs from a pen or stylus. It can also use an on-screenvirtual keyboard. Of course, it might also be attached to a keyboard orother user input device through a suitable attachment mechanism, such asa wireless link or USB port, for instance. Computer 600 can alsoillustratively receive voice inputs as well.

FIG. 9 shows that the device can be a smart phone 71. Smart phone 71 hasa touch sensitive display 73 that displays icons or tiles or other userinput mechanisms 75. Mechanisms 75 can be used by a user to runapplications, make calls, perform data transfer operations, etc. Ingeneral, smart phone 71 is built on a mobile operating system and offersmore advanced computing capability and connectivity than a featurephone.

Note that other forms of the devices 16 are possible.

FIG. 10 is one example of a computing environment in which architecture100, or parts of it, (for example) can be deployed. With reference toFIG. 10, an example system for implementing some embodiments includes ageneral-purpose computing device in the form of a computer 810.Components of computer 810 may include, but are not limited to, aprocessing unit 820 (which can comprise processors or servers fromprevious Figures), a system memory 830, and a system bus 821 thatcouples various system components including the system memory to theprocessing unit 820. The system bus 821 may be any of several types ofbus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By wayof example, and not limitation, such architectures include IndustryStandard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus,Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA)local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus also known asMezzanine bus. Memory and programs described with respect to FIG. 1 canbe deployed in corresponding portions of FIG. 10.

Computer 810 typically includes a variety of computer readable media.Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessedby computer 810 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media,removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media is different from, anddoes not include, a modulated data signal or carrier wave. It includeshardware storage media including both volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computerstorage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which can be used to store the desired information and which canbe accessed by computer 810. Communication media typically embodiescomputer readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother data in a transport mechanism and includes any informationdelivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that hasone or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as toencode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,communication media includes wired media such as a wired network ordirect-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF,infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

The system memory 830 includes computer storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 831and random access memory (RAM) 832. A basic input/output system 833(BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer informationbetween elements within computer 810, such as during start-up, istypically stored in ROM 831. RAM 832 typically contains data and/orprogram modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presentlybeing operated on by processing unit 820. By way of example, and notlimitation, FIG. 10 illustrates operating system 834, applicationprograms 835, other program modules 836, and program data 837.

The computer 810 may also include other removable/non-removablevolatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,FIG. 10 illustrates a hard disk drive 841 that reads from or writes tonon-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media, and an optical disk drive 855that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk 856such as a CD ROM or other optical media. Other removable/non-removable,volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in theexemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to,magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks,digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. Thehard disk drive 841 is typically connected to the system bus 821 througha non-removable memory interface such as interface 840, and optical diskdrive 855 are typically connected to the system bus 821 by a removablememory interface, such as interface 850.

Alternatively, or in addition, the functionality described herein can beperformed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components.For example, and without limitation, illustrative types of hardwarelogic components that can be used include Field-programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs), Program-specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Program-specificStandard Products (ASSPs), System-on-a-chip systems (SOCs), ComplexProgrammable Logic Devices (CPLDs), etc.

The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed aboveand illustrated in FIG. 10, provide storage of computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputer 810. In FIG. 10, for example, hard disk drive 841 isillustrated as storing operating system 844, application programs 845,other program modules 846, and program data 847. Note that thesecomponents can either be the same as or different from operating system834, application programs 835, other program modules 836, and programdata 837. Operating system 844, application programs 845, other programmodules 846, and program data 847 are given different numbers here toillustrate that, at a minimum, they are different copies.

A user may enter commands and information into the computer 810 throughinput devices such as a keyboard 862, a microphone 863, and a pointingdevice 861, such as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. Other input devices(not shown) may include a joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner,or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to theprocessing unit 820 through a user input interface 860 that is coupledto the system bus, but may be connected by other interface and busstructures, such as a parallel port, game port or a universal serial bus(USB). A visual display 891 or other type of display device is alsoconnected to the system bus 821 via an interface, such as a videointerface 890. In addition to the monitor, computers may also includeother peripheral output devices such as speakers 897 and printer 896,which may be connected through an output peripheral interface 895.

The computer 810 is operated in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer880. The remote computer 880 may be a personal computer, a hand-helddevice, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other commonnetwork node, and typically includes many or all of the elementsdescribed above relative to the computer 810. The logical connectionsdepicted in FIG. 10 include a local area network (LAN) 871 and a widearea network (WAN) 873, but may also include other networks. Suchnetworking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-widecomputer networks, intranets and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 810 is connectedto the LAN 871 through a network interface or adapter 870. When used ina WAN networking environment, the computer 810 typically includes amodem 872 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN873, such as the Internet. The modem 872, which may be internal orexternal, may be connected to the system bus 821 via the user inputinterface 860, or other appropriate mechanism. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 810, orportions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. Byway of example, and not limitation, FIG. 10 illustrates remoteapplication programs 885 as residing on remote computer 880. It will beappreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and othermeans of establishing a communications link between the computers may beused.

It should also be noted that the different embodiments described hereincan be combined in different ways. That is, parts of one or moreembodiments can be combined with parts of one or more other embodiments.All of this is contemplated herein.

Example 1 is a computing system, comprising:

an application dependency identification system that applies filtercriteria to data access request log data to identify dependencies ofseparate, requesting applications on an endpoint of a hostedapplication;

an application identifier control system that identifies a front endserver system hosting the endpoint of the hosted application andremotely runs the application dependency identification system in theidentified front end server system to identify the dependencies of theseparate, requesting applications on the endpoint; and

a result surfacing control system that generates a control signal tocontrol surfacing of the dependencies of the separate, requestingapplications on the endpoint.

Example 2 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the application dependency identification system comprises:

request result identifying logic configured to access an applicationaccessing log corresponding to the identified front end server system,that stores the data access request log data, and to apply a filtercriterion to identify successful data access requests logged in theapplication accessing log.

Example 3 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the application dependency identification system comprises:

URI pattern matching logic configured to access the applicationaccessing log and apply filter criteria to identify data access requeststhat request data from the endpoint of the hosted application.

Example 4 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the application dependency identification system comprises:

requesting client filtering logic configured to access serverconfiguration information indicative of applications local to acomputing environment in which the hosted application is hosted and toaccess the application accessing log and apply filter criteria toidentify data access requests that come from the separate, requestingapplications that are external to the computing environment in which thehosted application is hosted.

Example 5 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the application identifier control system comprises:

server location logic configured to identify the front end server systemhosting the endpoint of the hosted application.

Example 6 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the server location logic is configured to identify a pluralityof front end server systems hosting the endpoint of the hostedapplication.

Example 7 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the application identifier control system comprises:

remote access logic configured to remotely access each of the pluralityof front end server systems and remotely run the application dependencyidentification system on log data in application accessing logscorresponding to each of the front end server systems to separatelyidentify, in each of the front end server systems, the dependencies ofthe separate, requesting applications on the endpoint.

Example 8 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the application identifier control system comprises:

result transmission logic configured to transmit the separatelyidentified dependencies from each of the plurality of front end serversystems to the application identifier control system.

Example 9 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the application identifier control system comprises:

result aggregation logic configured to aggregate the separatelyidentified dependencies from each of the front end server systems into asingle set of dependencies.

Example 10 is a computer implemented method, comprising:

identifying a front end server system hosting an endpoint of a hostedapplication;

remotely running a filter on data access request log data in theidentified front end server system, with a set of filter criteria, toobtain filtered log data;

identifying application dependencies of separate, requestingapplications on the endpoint of the hosted application based on thefiltered log data; and

generating a control signal to control surfacing of the applicationdependencies of the separate, requesting applications on the endpoint.

Example 11 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples wherein remotely running a filter comprises:

accessing an application accessing log corresponding to the identifiedfront end server system, that stores the data access request log data;and

applying a filter criterion to identify successful data access requestslogged in the application accessing log.

Example 12 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples wherein remotely running a filter comprises:

accessing the application accessing log; and

applying a filter criterion to identify data access requests thatrequest data from the endpoint of the hosted application.

Example 13 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples remotely running a filter comprises:

accessing server configuration information indicative of applicationslocal to a computing environment in which the hosted application ishosted;

accessing the application accessing log; and

applying a filter criterion to identify data access requests that comefrom the separate, requesting applications that are external to thecomputing environment in which the hosted application is hosted.

Example 14 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples wherein identifying a front end server system comprises:

identifying a plurality of different front end server systems hostingthe endpoint of the hosted application.

Example 15 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples wherein remotely running the filter comprises:

remotely accessing each of the plurality of different front end serversystems; and

remotely running the filter on log data in application accessing logscorresponding to each of the plurality of different front end serversystems, and wherein identifying application dependencies comprisesseparately identifying, in each of the plurality of different front endserver systems, the application dependencies of the separate, requestingapplications on the endpoint.

Example 16 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples and further comprising:

transmitting the separately identified application dependencies fromeach of the plurality of different front end server systems to aseparate application identifier control system.

Example 17 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples and further comprising:

aggregating the separately identified application dependencies from eachof the plurality of different front end server systems into a single setof application dependencies.

Example 18 is a computing system, comprising:

an application identifier control system that identifies a front endserver system hosting an endpoint of a hosted application;

an application dependency identification system comprising:

request result identifying logic configured to access an applicationaccessing log, corresponding to the identified front end server system,that stores data access request log data, and to apply a filtercriterion to identify successful data access requests logged in theapplication accessing log;

URI pattern matching logic configured to access the applicationaccessing log and apply filter criteria to identify data access requeststhat request data from the endpoint of the hosted application; and

requesting client filtering logic configured to access serverconfiguration information indicative of applications local to acomputing environment in which the hosted application is hosted and toaccess the application accessing log and apply filter criteria toidentify data access requests that come from separate, requestingapplications that are external to the computing environment in which thehosted application is hosted, the application identifier control systembeing configured to remotely run the application dependencyidentification system in the identified front end server system toidentify application dependencies of the separate, requestingapplications on the endpoint; and

a result surfacing control system that generates a control signal tocontrol surfacing of the application dependencies of the separate,requesting applications on the endpoint.

Example 19 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the application identifier control system comprises:

server location logic configured to identify the front end server systemhosting the endpoint of the hosted application wherein the serverlocation logic is configured to identify a plurality of front end serversystems hosting the endpoint of the hosted application.

Example 20 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the application identifier control system comprises:

remote access logic configured to remotely access each of the pluralityof front end server systems and remotely run the application dependencyidentification system on log data in application accessing logscorresponding to each of the plurality of front end server systems toseparately identify, in each of the plurality of front end serversystems, the dependencies of the separate, requesting applications onthe endpoint;

result transmission logic configured to transmit the separatelyidentified dependencies from each of the plurality of front end serversystems to the application identifier control system; and

result aggregation logic configured to aggregate the separatelyidentified dependencies from each of the front end server systems into asingle set of dependencies.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computing system, comprising: an applicationdependency identification system that applies filter criteria to dataaccess request log data to identify dependencies of separate, requestingapplications on an endpoint of a hosted application; an applicationidentifier control system that identifies a front end server systemhosting the endpoint of the hosted application and remotely runs theapplication dependency identification system in the identified front endserver system to identify the dependencies of the separate, requestingapplications on the endpoint; and a result surfacing control system thatgenerates a control signal to control surfacing of the dependencies ofthe separate, requesting applications on the endpoint.
 2. The computingsystem of claim 1 wherein the application dependency identificationsystem comprises: request result identifying logic configured to accessan application accessing log corresponding to the identified front endserver system, that stores the data access request log data, and toapply a filter criterion to identify successful data access requestslogged in the application accessing log.
 3. The computing system ofclaim 2 wherein the application dependency identification systemcomprises: URI pattern matching logic configured to access theapplication accessing log and apply filter criteria to identify dataaccess requests that request data from the endpoint of the hostedapplication.
 4. The computing system of claim 3 wherein the applicationdependency identification system comprises: requesting client filteringlogic configured to access server configuration information indicativeof applications local to a computing environment in which the hostedapplication is hosted and to access the application accessing log andapply filter criteria to identify data access requests that come fromthe separate, requesting applications that are external to the computingenvironment in which the hosted application is hosted.
 5. The computingsystem of claim 4 wherein the application identifier control systemcomprises: server location logic configured to identify the front endserver system hosting the endpoint of the hosted application.
 6. Thecomputing system of claim 5 wherein the server location logic isconfigured to identify a plurality of front end server systems hostingthe endpoint of the hosted application.
 7. The computing system of claim6 wherein the application identifier control system comprises: remoteaccess logic configured to remotely access each of the plurality offront end server systems and remotely run the application dependencyidentification system on log data in application accessing logscorresponding to each of the front end server systems to separatelyidentify, in each of the front end server systems, the dependencies ofthe separate, requesting applications on the endpoint.
 8. The computingsystem of claim 7 wherein the application identifier control systemcomprises: result transmission logic configured to transmit theseparately identified dependencies from each of the plurality of frontend server systems to the application identifier control system.
 9. Thecomputing system of claim 8 wherein the application identifier controlsystem comprises: result aggregation logic configured to aggregate theseparately identified dependencies from each of the front end serversystems into a single set of dependencies.
 10. A computer implementedmethod, comprising: identifying a front end server system hosting anendpoint of a hosted application; remotely running a filter on dataaccess request log data in the identified front end server system, witha set of filter criteria, to obtain filtered log data; identifyingapplication dependencies of separate, requesting applications on theendpoint of the hosted application based on the filtered log data; andgenerating a control signal to control surfacing of the applicationdependencies of the separate, requesting applications on the endpoint.11. The computer implemented method of claim 10 wherein remotely runninga filter comprises: accessing an application accessing log correspondingto the identified front end server system, that stores the data accessrequest log data; and applying a filter criterion to identify successfuldata access requests logged in the application accessing log.
 12. Thecomputer implemented method of claim 11 wherein remotely running afilter comprises: accessing the application accessing log; and applyinga filter criterion to identify data access requests that request datafrom the endpoint of the hosted application.
 13. The computerimplemented method of claim 12 remotely running a filter comprises:accessing server configuration information indicative of applicationslocal to a computing environment in which the hosted application ishosted; accessing the application accessing log; and applying a filtercriterion to identify data access requests that come from the separate,requesting applications that are external to the computing environmentin which the hosted application is hosted.
 14. The computer implementedmethod of claim 13 wherein identifying a front end server systemcomprises: identifying a plurality of different front end server systemshosting the endpoint of the hosted application.
 15. The computerimplemented method of claim 14 wherein remotely running the filtercomprises: remotely accessing each of the plurality of different frontend server systems; and remotely running the filter on log data inapplication accessing logs corresponding to each of the plurality ofdifferent front end server systems, and wherein identifying applicationdependencies comprises separately identifying, in each of the pluralityof different front end server systems, the application dependencies ofthe separate, requesting applications on the endpoint.
 16. The computerimplemented method of claim 15 and further comprising: transmitting theseparately identified application dependencies from each of theplurality of different front end server systems to a separateapplication identifier control system.
 17. The computer implementedmethod of claim 16 and further comprising: aggregating the separatelyidentified application dependencies from each of the plurality ofdifferent front end server systems into a single set of applicationdependencies.
 18. A computing system, comprising: an applicationidentifier control system that identifies a front end server systemhosting an endpoint of a hosted application; an application dependencyidentification system comprising: request result identifying logicconfigured to access an application accessing log, corresponding to theidentified front end server system, that stores data access request logdata, and to apply a filter criterion to identify successful data accessrequests logged in the application accessing log; URI pattern matchinglogic configured to access the application accessing log and applyfilter criteria to identify data access requests that request data fromthe endpoint of the hosted application; and requesting client filteringlogic configured to access server configuration information indicativeof applications local to a computing environment in which the hostedapplication is hosted and to access the application accessing log andapply filter criteria to identify data access requests that come fromseparate, requesting applications that are external to the computingenvironment in which the hosted application is hosted, the applicationidentifier control system being configured to remotely run theapplication dependency identification system in the identified front endserver system to identify application dependencies of the separate,requesting applications on the endpoint; and a result surfacing controlsystem that generates a control signal to control surfacing of theapplication dependencies of the separate, requesting applications on theendpoint.
 19. The computing system of claim 18 wherein the applicationidentifier control system comprises: server location logic configured toidentify the front end server system hosting the endpoint of the hostedapplication wherein the server location logic is configured to identifya plurality of front end server systems hosting the endpoint of thehosted application.
 20. The computing system of claim 19 wherein theapplication identifier control system comprises: remote access logicconfigured to remotely access each of the plurality of front end serversystems and remotely run the application dependency identificationsystem on log data in application accessing logs corresponding to eachof the plurality of front end server systems to separately identify, ineach of the plurality of front end server systems, the dependencies ofthe separate, requesting applications on the endpoint; resulttransmission logic configured to transmit the separately identifieddependencies from each of the plurality of front end server systems tothe application identifier control system; and result aggregation logicconfigured to aggregate the separately identified dependencies from eachof the front end server systems into a single set of dependencies.